Ice Classic 2010

So despite Connor still recovering from his nasty bout with scarlet fever the past two weeks, we decided the weather was too auspicious to not hie ourselves off to the ICe Carving Championships yesterday. Apparently we have the clearest ice in the world up here in a pond in North Pole, and people come from all over the world to participate in the ice carving championship. They also have a huge kids' park made out of ice, including mazes, slides and ice bowls. We bundled everyone up and vowed to not tire Connor out too much and let him go his own pace, which was approximately six million miles an hour once he saw the ice park. He had fun sliding down a few slides, but really loved the tall ones at the end of park. He went down twice before he was tired out, and Timmy went down twice before getting some snow in his face and deciding he needed a break in the warming house.

The ice maze...it's HUGE. Timmy and I got lost so we backtracked while daddy and Connor giggled and ran.


Slides of screaming death! Connor insisted on going alone.


Daddy and Connor went off together while Timmy and I took a 20 minute potty break - it takes a LONG time to peel all that stuff off a baby - and then we jumped on the Winter Wonderland train to go see the ice sculptures. I must say the "train" was a brilliant innovation on years past. It consisted of an ATV towing rainbow colored sled cars behind it to tour the sculptures. It was great because the park is quite large and with one still sickly kid and one tiny guy, it would have taken forever to look at ourselves and chilled the boys through. Instead they got to ride which was a thrill in itself for them, we got to see everything, and everyone stayed warm.

Connor on the ATV train.



Mommy's a goof! At least Timmy's cute!



Charlie's favorite...called "Death Grip."


Look at the detail on this octopus!


This one was titled "Competition."


"Winter Phoenix"


Seahorse


Aeolus



Connor started to flag after a little jaunt in the warming house so we went home. Both of them fell asleep in the car on the way home...cold and fun sure tires you out!

Autism Salutes: DoD Slaps Military Spouses in the Face!!!!!

Autism Salutes: DoD Slaps Military Spouses in the Face!!!!!

Calling my Senator...NOW.

Timmy is diaper free!

It's been eight days now since we quit wearing diapers and he's done exceptionally well...only two small accidents and he caught himself before it got too far. He is so proud of himself and excited about his big boy underwear. He picked out a package of Cars undies and some Thomas ones, and ants to go pants-less so he can show everyone his big boy pants all day long.

He's even diaperless at night! I'm so proud of him!

Oh, the gluten

Well, as most of my maybe four readers know by now, our boys have celiac disease. Honestly this doesn't impact our lives all that much -- we eat very little processed food, I take daily snacks to school for Connor, and we have to be careful at other people's homes and playgroups to minimize exposure, but that's not that hard really. The only thing that is really hard is those times when you've been running frantically, working hard and the Domino's number would be JUST SO EASY. Restaurants are usually a nightmare and more stressful than just going ahead and eating at home. Some restaurants are offering gluten free items now, which is an awesome advancement -- 20 years ago, you got handed a bag of rice cakes and shunted out of the doctor's office and you were on your own. But that's only great if the restaurant can really maintain gluten free protocols.

We went out to eat this past Saturday at Boston's Pizza. They have a wide selection of gluten free pizza and we previously ate there without incident. Not this time. By 3 hours after eating, Timmy was rejecting food and crying hysterically. By 4 hours after, we had projectile vomiting. By eight hours later, we had bloody vomit. And by 12 hours after, we had exhausted parents, 15 loads of laundry, diarrhea, and a stinky exhausted dehydrated baby. The vomiting STILL hasn't stopped 48 hours later, though it's nowhere near initial levels. I turned a whale eye toward Connor -- as soon Timmy came down off the initial pain wave, Connor began and suffered from belly pain and diarrhea. He said "Aladdin's monster" was eating his tummy. :-( We ended up keeping him home today to avoid having an embarrassing and painful accident in front of the other children, not to mention the attendant behavioral issues.

While the baby snoozed between Vesuvius-like fits, I wrote a scathingly polite letter to Boston's about the issue. I was not happy as you can imagine. After two hours of broken sleep and finally stumbling through a shower to wash off various effluvients, I wrote yet another message this morning. I had called the local Boston's on Sunday and was blithely assured that the owner had been in after a "call from corporate" but Mr Schmuckatelli who answered the phone couldn't give me anything more, not even an apology. Here's what I wrote in the latest message:

I wrote to your company on Saturday night after my children were glutened in your restaurant. I just wanted to give an update on the full impact of haphazard gluten practices in your restaurant: my older son (4 years old) spent yesterday and last night on the couch with a heating pad on his stomach, alternating with long trips to the bathroom. My younger son (16 mo) was lucky enough to escape serious medical intervention this time but still required consultation with his pediatrician and didn't stop vomiting or the diarrhea attendant with a glutening for almost 24 hours. The last and only time he was glutened, Timothy required an emergency medevac to a VA pediatric hospital because he had experienced a prolapse in his bowel. We are very relieved that didn't happen this time. We had to keep my older son from preschool this morning in fear that he would have an embarrassing and distressing accident. We have eaten out a total of eight times since my children were diagnosed in May 2009, and almost all at your restaurant chain, here and in Anchorage. We had no reason not to trust that Boston's wouldn't let us down this time. I don't tell you all this to invoke pity or to threaten litigation; I say all this to let you know the full impact of what happened to us and the importance of gluten free dining protocols if you are going to advertise such a menu option. I hope that your corporation doesn't decide to limit or eliminate its menu as a result of our issues. 1 in 132 Americans, according to University of Maryland's recent study - making 2.2 million people potential gluten free customers - suffers from this sort of condition. But this isn't something to be cavalier about either. To a celiac, every bit of gluten is like arsenic -- the effect is remarkably similar on the gut and nervous system. The care taken to make sure none ends up in the food of a celiac must be the same. After all, I hardly think your kitchen staff would conclude blithely that a little bit of arsenic in the pan or sprinkled in the pizza toppings would be worth the risk to a customer.

I would appreciate some sort of response to my concerns. I contacted the restaurant upon their opening yesterday and was not entirely pleased with their response. The manager did say that the owner had been in after a "call from corporate" to discuss gluten free procedures, but no assurance of what improvements have been made/will be made was offered, nor was there any apology or amends offered for the distress and illness Connor and Timothy have suffered. I think a "call from corporate" would have gone a long way toward making me feel that Boston's heard and understood my well-founded distress.

Perhaps I am expecting too much, but I feel the distinct need to let our dissatisfaction and physical pain be registered as strongly as possible. If nothing else, please do remove these options from your menu so other parents aren't misled into trusting their children's health will be safe. Thank you for your time.

Well, I must have lit a fire at Boston's corporate office because the response WAS gratifying, and honestly should be modeled by more service-oriented corporations when a customer's complaint is registered. I was vastly impressed. I received a call from a Ms Wade in Dallas who reassured me that they were making inquiries and reviews of all their gf procedures at all their restaurants and had directly addressed the issue with the FAirbanks restaurant in particular. She offered their apologies and asked that we gave them another chance -- with a hollow laugh, I assured her we would most likely not be doing so any time soon. At least for as long as the carpet smelled this bad.

Later that afternoon I got a call from Mr Cervantes at the Fairbanks restaurant and he was hugely receptive and apologetic. During the course of a half hour conversation he reviewed their procedures, accepted two suggestions from me (dedicated cleaning supplies and server accountability) and listened patiently to my CD101 lecture. He offered to host our family for free whenever we'd like to come eat, but again...that's kind of like being offered a game of free Russian roulette (thanks Jen, that made me laugh).

I didn't address things so strongly in an attempt to bludgeon anyone with guilt, sue anyone, get "free stuff" or share the misery for the sake of doing so...though I admit, I would have happily passed the blood spewing baby off to a Boston's exec with very little compunction roundabout 4 am...I did it to be an ADVOCATE. Little known and recognized diseases like celiac disease will never gain mainstream acceptance or accommodation without calm and measured advocacy. Of course in any service oriented issue, without giving customer feedback the service in question will never improve. And when it's health related, it's no good to passively accept the situation or just shrug and say, "Well, we'll never eat there again." What good would that have done anyone besides ourselves?

Oh crap...I hear vomiting upstairs. Sigh. Oh, the gluten...

Okay, just a few more...

That boy is our last hope... There is another...



Connor got a few mom and dad and Nani presents when we got home. Ignore the party detritus...three adults vs 20 kids? We didn't stand a chance. We were all exhausted and blew off all but the most immediate stuff to rest tonight. He got a cool gaming system called Zippity from Nani and Pop.



Ahhh! Daddy bought a spring loaded light up light saber! I think the light saber count in the house is up to near double digits. I'm choking on testosterone fueled geekery!

Star Wars Birthday!

Connor asked for a Star Wars birthday and Charlie and I were determined to deliver, without a hefty price tag. Hmmm...tons of fun, Star Wars crazy and not a huge hit on the pocket book? It can be done.

First you need a supportive cast at home. Timmy likes to get us in the mood.


Then you spend a couple weeks frantically manufacturing Star Wars paraphernalia. I had a bunch of Charlie's old t-shirts, so I split them down the middle and mom hemmed them. I cut small belts out of brown felt, and voila - instant tiny Jedis. Charlie spent the same amount of time manufacturing light sabers out of pipe insulation, PVC and "duck" tape in bright colors. He put a small piece of PVC pipe in the handle and then did beautiful designs in tape to make them look great. They could whale on each other with impunity with a minimum of tears. I think they were the kids' favorite part of the party and we even had adults from other parties asking all sorts of questions about their construction so they could do the same thing.
Here's Connor modeling his costume and saber before guests arrive!

We held the party at the base community center. This place rocks like you read about, with slides and an infant play area. For a small fee, you can rent a party room and a bouncy castle in the main play area. This excites the kids so much, you really don't need to plan many activities. And even the considerable inconvenience of hauling lots of party stuff through the snow at 30 below sure beats having 20 bored preschoolers and toddlers in your house with every minute planned.

Timmy and daddy sliding!


Connor and his friend Haley playing light sabers in the party room.


Connor jumping with friends in the bouncy castle.


The party food was mostly snacks -- all gluten free of course, with a few completely egg and dairy free as well so Connor's good friend Owen could enjoy. He was so tickled that he had cupcakes, chex mix, popcorn and chips and dip he could eat. Mom and I made little cloth treat bags for everyone too with a few trinkets like space bouncy balls and glowing bracelets and some special birthday M&Ms mom sent. We splurged on a Darth Vader pinata filled with candy. The kids broke it open and Charlie ended up having to shake it to rain down the goodies -- you couldn't see his feet with the resulting shrieking feeding frenzy!

We opened presents shortly thereafter but cut it short once we realized everyone wanted the presents!

I made some gluten free chocolate cupcakes and some dairy, egg and gluten free cupcakes with vanilla dairy free icing and sprinkles. We decorated them with Darth Vader and storm trooper rings to decorate the cakes. We also got some sparkly black candles and let everyone blow them out to help Connor.

The kids then went off to play some more while we cleaned up. Everyone took a costume, balloons, treat bag and light saber home -- lots of laughs, very few tears and a very happy four year old!

Connor's 4 year old interview

I asked Connor a series of questions for marking his transition to 4, courtesy of my friend Melissa at Chasing Cheerios. Some of the answers are awfully cute...

I feel happy when...I play with cars and trucks.

I feel sad when...I bump my head.

I like to...toys.

My daddy is...coming.

My mommy is...very happy.

I love...Timmy.

My favorite color is...black.

I like to eat...bananas.

I like to play...at the playground.

My favorite toy is...a fire truck (could have fooled me) and a storm trooper.

It makes me happy when...I play with storm troopers.

It makes me sad when...I need batteries.

I feel frustrated when...new kids are there.

The best thing I do is...playing castle.

I'm excited about...uh...trees...uh, train...uh no, that's silly.

I like to go...in the airplane.

What's your favorite song? Santa Claus is coming to town

What's your favorite school activity? Work

What's the best part about being 4 years old? a party

Decorating the House for Christmas

Random Pics Monday

Random picture download! And bonus dancing video...

Boys sledding together...mom just puts on Yak Trax and runs, pulling them in circles. They love it.


Connor helping Haley put on socks. Haley is his little girlfriend from the neighborhood and they run at each other to hug every time they're separated more than few days.


Connor loves to do puzzles and patterns. See his awesome train made of different shapes?


A fine attempt at Connor's name!

Alaskan Living Tidbits

Want to know a few things unique to Alaskan living? Of course you do!

- It's rude to wear your shoes inside anyone's house without express permission to do so. Most people have a tiled or wood entryway or mud room that is closed off from the house or at least set aside to control snow and gravel tracking into the house. Of course an independently heated mud room like we have is really a luxury...it helps control heat loss from the house.

- Why is controlling heat loss important? Some houses here are heated with fuel oil, some with hot water piping and some with wood fires...or a combo of those. We have long heat radiators on the exterior walls of the house that continuously pipe hot water to heat the rooms. Each floor has its own temperature control and it's a fine art to get the heat set just right...I have to fiddle with them often and we leave all the doors open at night to help equalize temps. Connor's room gets atrociously cold unless we have all the doors open and ceiling fans on to help distribute heat evenly upstairs. The base has its own heat plant for water, which means I never have to worry about losing hot water for washing and baths. We could run both showers, the dishwasher and the washer at once and never feel the difference until...

- It gets COLD here. I just glanced out my window and it's about -16 F. That's not cold by December, where temps are regularly more between -20 and -40 F. The beauty of hot water heating is that it doesn't take nearly as much energy to heat but it depends a lot on houses being well insulated and the temperature being relatively static; dramatic swings leave the system panting to catch up. Which is why we can get in thumb-screws kind of trouble for opening the window below zero...the heat gets rapidly sucked out and the pipes freeze quickly, and burst. If it has a dramatic temperature swing you lose heat quickly and it's hard to get it back. Last year we had the hot water main on our street burst and boiling water was pouring down the street. They thought they would have to evacuate everyone to billeting -- after only half an hour without hot water, our house dropped to 50. Granted it was -45 outside so it was still positively balmy inside, but I was not pleased to be worried about baby popsicles. If the temp plunges dramatically, which is rare, the heat can have a hard time keeping up. You know it got cold when you go to open the shade and the condensation from the evening's sleep is frozen solid on the windows! All you can do then is close blinds to help retain heat, put everyone in a couple sweaters and crank the heat, particularly in the entryway between the garage and house.

- No one with any sense in Alaska goes anywhere without emergency kits and extra clothes. Everyone has heard a horror story about a woman veering off the road and not being found for three days, or a family forced to walk through snow drifts until they're finally found naked and partially eaten by wolves. I'm not sure how often that happens, but I had a scary experience of my own our first winter here. I slid off the road at a hairpin curve about 1/3 of a mile from our temp apartment (we had to wait til April for a house). It was about -7...cold, but not insanely so. I had no cell phone coverage. So I bundled Connor up as best as I could, put wool socks on my hands because I forgot my gloves, and started to walk to the apartment. I was four months pregnant with Timmy and had to carry Connor a good bit because the snow drifts were too much for a two year old. We were exhausted, shaky and numb with cold by the time we got home. I vowed then and there that I would never go anywhere without better supplies and we would invest in snow tires within the week. Done and done. It was a dangerous mistake.

- There are so many COOL things about this state. I love the ubiquitous coffee huts everywhere. It seems like everywhere there's a bare patch of dirt, one springs up as if coffee hut seeds had been sown. People are also extremely friendly -- once you're accepted as part of the Fairbanks milieu, you've never met a stranger. Of course the measure is usually how many winters you've spent up here. :-) There's a very neat counterculture "Just because America does it doesn't mean we do" vibe; I admire individuality and pure cussedness. I could do without Daylight Savings, because let's face it, it's useless here. Alaska could have stood a little "screw you guys!" spirit on that, but eh. I adore the fact that calling my son's school and telling them that a stuffed musk ox fell off a truck and is blocking traffic is not only a perfect valid excuse for being late, it's accepted without comment. I think the fact that my children call any large animal - cow, deer, etc -- a moose is neat, and that they know what a moose mating call sounds like is cooler still. I like that you can enter into a spirited debate about the relative merits of snow tires, boot brands, and wool vs bamboo socks with virtually anyone and each person leaves perfectly happy, convinced their conviction that Sorels beat Baffins hands down is still intact. I love that we treasure every moment of summer in a way no temperate climate could ever do, and live outdoors. I love ravens. I love red sassy squirrels. And while I may never want to settle here (did I mention the cold?) I can appreciate the amazing spirit of this place.

What the kids are doing

I thought I might give you a quick snapshot of what the kids have been doing developmentally lately...big changes in the boys lately!

We think Connor has been revving up for another growth spurt. Hard to believe since the child already towers over most children his age, but he's 42 1/4 inches tall as of 45 months old. But he's been eating like a teen boy and you can't keep him filled up over the past few weeks. He just joined league bowling and LOVES it. He actually does really well and is one of the few children in his league to actually hold the ball properly. His speed is improving slightly, and he managed to bowl a 70 yesterday! He asks several times a day to go "roll balls" and whenever he sees Aunt Angela's picture, he says, "Aunt Angela take me to roll balls TODAY!" Amazing that he remembers that from a year ago. His speech is getting better and better but he's still a little confused with some syntax issues, like tenses and pronouns. When he's on the phone he likes to talk about the things he can immediately see which confuses people on the other side of the conversation! He's really into maps, puzzles, painting, and reading. I'm not sure everyone would understand him when he names his continents - Antica (Antarctica), Africaca (Africa), Nort Carica (North America)...but he knows them pat! He's going to be moving to a new school class in the morning next Monday and has his first parent teacher conference on Friday.

Timmy is evolving into a little boy overnight. He decided about nine days ago that he would walk. As simple as that. He took his first steps long ago and experimented with it a bit, but mostly decided crawling was the safe and speedy way to go. Then last week, a switch flipped and he took off. Apparently the talking switch flipped too and he's picking up signs and words at a phenomenal rate. He's now attacking my computer like a Trojan Horse, so I'll have to cut this short...sigh.

Something to think about...

I stay up a lot at night worrying about various things, and I'm doing my best to stop. I uncovered an old Erma Bombeck book earlier, and the page fortuitously opened to this essay:

If I Had My Life to Live Over...

I would have talked less and listened more.

I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained and the sofa faded.

I would have eaten the popcorn in the "good" living room and worried much less about the dirt when someone wanted to light a fire in the fireplace.

I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his youth.

I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day because my hair had just been teased and sprayed.

I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose before it melted in storage.

I would have sat on the lawn with my children and not worried about grass stains.

I would have cried and laughed less while watching TV - and more while watching life.

I would have shared more of the responsibility carried by my husband.

I would have gone to bed when I was sick instead of pretending the earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren't there for the day.

I would never have bought anything just because it was practical, wouldn't show soil or was guaranteed to last a lifetime.

Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I'd have cherished every moment and realized that the wonderment growing inside me was the only chance in life to assist God in a miracle.

When my kids kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, "Later. Now go get washed up for dinner."

There would have been more "I love yous"...more "I'm sorrys"...

But mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute...look at it and really see it...live it...and never give it back.

I hope I remember this more often.

Fall at the Freels

Well, first of all, it finally snowed. Really snowed. Lots of wrecks today. But no Alaskan Halloween would be complete without snow suits, so there you go!

We carved pumpkins tonight, which really means Mom and Dad carved pumpkins. Connor has a positive aversion to stickiness and goopiness -- he will wash his hands four times in the course of a waffle and syrup breakfast -- so he provided direction and vector. Timmy limited his help to stepping in pumpking innards and shrieking gleefully as he toddled through the kitchen.

Here's daddy and Connor examining the autopsy. Connor picked a 35 lb pumpkin. Ahem. Mommy got the stink eye from dad on that choice.


Here's Timmy "helping". Daddy LOVES it. Just ask him. Wait til he stops twitching though.


And here's the finished results! TA DA!!!!!! Come on Halloween, we're ready!!!

School Halloween Carnival!

We hied ourselves off to the school Halloween carnival yesterday, and had a blast! I had dropped off decorations earlier in the week, and then ended up baking like a madwoman Friday night for the silent auction and cupcake walk. When the kids have to be gluten free, you can't assume there's anything safe for them to eat! So we made some gluten free brownies and Connor chose to frost them with green buttercream and decorate with M&Ms. We also made some chocolate cupcakes that he decorated with icing and nonpareils. He could actually have a cupcake then if he won the cake walk.

Timmy dressed as the world's most adorable pumpkin, and Connor was SIR Connor as a knight. I found this awesome knight costume at the base thrift store. I volunteer there every Tues night and always snap up great deals. I snagged it for $3 and then spent another $2.50 on materials for a beautiful sparkling cape. We were a little afraid of kid fracas though so he didn't wear that yesterday.

I had volunteered to run the Spider Ring Toss for an hour and had lots of fun watching 50 or so children get so excited about winning a prize. I think I made an excellent carnival barker, and had several return visitors looking for me to draw them another spider on their game card -- I ran the spider ring toss, what else would I do but draw a spider? Of course a few fairy princesses balked and I had to come up with variations. I'm afraid the "pink pincess farry" was disappointed in my unicorn rendition, but spiders were already taxing my limited artistic abilities.

Timmy got a little sensory overloaded and had to take a break outside with dad -- I don't think Charlie was disappointed to escape the five rooms of screaming stampeding preschoolers and their hovering parents. He came back in around 530, and watched Connor play in the castle maze til it was time to go home. We were so tired by then that we stopped at Wendy's to let the boys have plain hamburgers and oranges for dinner.

We don't know if it was excitement or being overtired (Timmy hasn't been sleeping well) or being overfull but Timmy ended up projectile vomiting all over me, Charlie and the bed last night when we put him down. So we had a fairly exciting 45 minutes getting everyone bathed and the bed cleaned up. Awesome news though...Connor finally stayed in his room a full three nights and earned a trip to the toy store! Okay, so solution is run the kid into the ground! Check!



Connor getting a tattoo from Mrs Campbell. Oh, Grandma Freel, this one washes off! :D


Connor playing in the bouncy castle with his best friend Carrington.


Timmy running - yes, you read that right -- running in Wendy's. I'm tired, in case you were wondering.


Timmy at the fortune telling table. I was glad I wasn't manning that one, it was tough! What do you say? "Tomorrow your parents will take you to the store and buy you anything you want"...


You KNOW Connor needed his face painted. Spiders are our favorite lately.

Timmy's birthday

Timmy turned one. I turned my back and he grew up!

It's hard to believe that a little over a year ago I was pacing the neighborhood hoping for a nice short easy labor. That's what I got, and so much more. Timmy is, in a word, a joy. I know everyone thinks that of their baby, but Timmy is a virtual magnet for smiles...he melts everyone he meets. The clerks at the grocery store wave at him, grinches grudgingly smile at him and he just loves on everyone he meets. Timmy has never met a stranger. He has the sweetest smile..he scrunches up his face and gives a beaming grin. He also has the most beautiful set of unusual dimples, and has dark golden skin -- especially next to his china doll porcelain big brother. He's so beautiful sometimes, it makes me marvel that he's mine.

That's not to say he is necessarily easy going -- he definitely has an opinion about the way life should be! Nowadays he's babbling away telling me stories and giving instructions. Really, it's my fault if I don't understand him. He took off walking this past week like he's been doing it all his life, despite steadfastly refusing to try stepping after falling badly at 9 months. He loves to play with his brother, loves to climb ladders to "help" mommy in the kitchen, and is a tornado fo energy from sun up to sun down.

Here he is opening a birthday present from mom and dad...we love this ball toy.


He got an Elmo karaoke doll. Connor had one at this age and carted it literally everywhere but it was included in the huge lead recall. Timmy couldn't care less about it, but Connor still likes it.


MMMM cake. Gluten free of course!


He got "bnnnz" (balloons) and hats for his birthday.

Connor at school!

Connor started preschool at the Fairbanks Montessori Preschool in August. One of the best decisions we ever made, hands down. He LOVES school. He loves his teacher, he loves the activities, he loves the kids.

It's a school devoted solely to 3-5 year olds. Each class has a different mixture of ages, and Montessori philosophy fits in well with Connor's temperament. Montessori is, as my friend B puts it, a daily celebration of learning. Children are encouraged to ask questions, to find things they're interested in, and incorporate a love of learning into their daily lives. The activities are largely self-directed...Connor loves maps and puzzles, so often heads for those first thing when he gets in. He carefully takes a map puzzle from the shelf, places it on the table, pulls out his chair and concentrates on it to the exclusion of all else. When he's done he carefully replaces it on the shelf and moves on to another activity. The striking thing about Montessori schools is how quiet they are. The children are all calmly working and since the adults with them believe that work had inherent value regardless of the work itself, they are left in peace to learn. The teacher guides them gently to new activities, or incorporates crafts in it all. Pretty amazing. B's daughter is also in Montessori, and this incident of hers is illustrative: R asked if there were seeds in pumpkins. The director promptly hacked open a small pumpkin on her desk and asked R what she thought. R saw the seeds, was led into a discussion of growing plants, and the director proceeded to give her a bag of seeds to plant when the time was right. Montessori is always about satisfying curiosity and fostering children's innate love of learning.

I'm probably doing a poor job explaining, but the results are undeniable. Connor is reading very well, he's starting to write legible letters, he counts to 20 daily in Spanish and English, he has a fifty word Spanish vocabulary, he knows his continents, he can spell his full name and several other words besides...and most amazingly of all, he loves to do all of these things. He and I did an experiment in reversible change yesterday with ice cubes and water, and he couldn't have been happier. Did I mention he's three? I just burst with pride, and since it's my blog I can brag with impunity...muhahahahaha!

Montessori also believes in making it easy for children to function on a daily basis as part of the family, which means incorporating them into the business of the family and making it easy with kid sized tools to do so. Connor has a work display board in the book room at his level, with a boot shelf full of art supplies underneath. There's a hook to hold his apron (I sewed it for him from a "Montessori" pattern), a broom/dust pan, and a ladder to use at the counter. We have stools at every sink to allow him to get his own cup of water or wash his hands. He has a kid sized table for his work time at home -- that might be pattern work, stringing ABC beads, drawing, or working with gluten free playdough. Timmy has been included in all this too -- he too plays at the table, and loves to drink his evening water out of a little shot glass that is just his size to grasp and drink. They have some sponges cut in half to make it easy for them to clean up after themselves, and if they spill they're expected to help clean up. They both help me do laundry, they help wash dishes. That's not to say they don't make messes, but they're far less than they ever were and they're happy about helping.

We've had a few issues with Connor's diet -- mostly people not realizing how much casual contact with gluten containing items can still harm him -- but that's smoothed out a lot. I'm terribly sorry to do it, but Connor is going to be moving into the morning class in about a week. He was in the afternoon class and loves his friends and teacher, but it was eating my entire day. It takes about 35 minutes to drive there so we have to leave at 1215 to be there by 1250. I turn around and come home by 130, then Timmy naps and I run back at 315. If I move him to mornings I think he will be fresher, and Timmy and I can get errands and exercising done in the morning before picking him up. Then we can be home for lunch and rest/naps and he might actually get to play with his neighborhood friends in the afternoons.

The pictures of school are trapped on Charlie's phone so I'll have to rescue them later. Meanwhile here's a few cute pics!

Connor at the park.

Timmy playing with one of his birthday toys.

Connor and Timmy love this huge bead maze they got from Pop and Nani for Timmy's birthday. They play for hours!

Ummm, so I suck?

I just realized it's been THREE months since I updated this blog.

I was trapped in the garage by a moose? I was hiking the Brooks range, gun in hand? I was cutting firewood and accidentally destroyed the DSL? What excuse will you believe?

Okay, really, it's just been insanely busy here at the Freels. Timmy turned one, Connor started preschool in Fairbanks which involves about 1.5 hours in the car a day for me and Timmy, I am the publicity editor for the spouses club, I am a La Leche League leader, not to mention the work it takes daily to clean up after and feed three strapping Alaskan men. But I promise to try to catch up on a few major events in pictures and prose, then I will resume blogging on a far more regular basis. No, really, Grandma...I promise! :D

Resurrection Bay Cruise and other sundries

It's been a VERY busy couple weeks here at the Freels. Charlie came home after eight months in Iraq on August 9th -- woo hoo! -- and we settled in to being a family again. I can't possibly catch up the whole time in prose, so you'll have to be content with lots of pictures!

Timmy got a little car as an early birthday present. He fell in love with the neighbor's toy car and spent every afternoon in their yard loving on it, so we bought him one early to enjoy while the summer lasted before moving it inside. Here he's enjoying driving it, but you can see why dad got him a haircut shortly after arriving home!



We REALLY love this car. No, really.


Wait...standby for potty break.



We took a trip to Anchorage on Wednesday and supported the economy in a truly patriotic way while enjoying some much needed catch up time. Charlie lost nearly 40 lbs in Iraq and looks amazing...here's two handsome boys in downtown Anchorage.



We took a side trip to Seward and embarked on a Resurrection Bay and Gulf of Alaska cruise with the kids. Wow.

I can see why Alaska is addictive now. We had some icky weather but still...such beautiful vistas, deep blue-green waters, adorable puffins, and distant glimpses of austere blue glaciers peeking through the fjords. Poor Connor ended up with a little seasickness but happily slept on dad's lap for a couple hours, while Timmy snoozed in mommy's sling.


Here's the family gathered on the deck of the boat...


Here's a view of Bear Glacier...you don't see many on this particular cruise because it's short and focuses mostly on wildlife, but it was perfect for us because the boys' tolerance for sea motion and boredom are less than the marathon boat expeditions required to see more.


Oh, my favorite! Puffins! These guys are so cute and little -- you picture them as penguin sized, but they're actually tiny...



Timmy showing off his new haircut!



Here's a view of the Matanuska Glacier. We drove an alternate route home to enjoy the scenic Richardson Highway. Timmy mightily disagreed with this decision about an hour from home, and punished us, but the views made it worth it!


This is just one of a thousand views on Richardson!